Holbrook line: George Hayward, Immigrant died 1671

George Hayward is yet another immigrant with a somewhat mysterious past.  There were dozens of George Haywards born in England in the time frame 1610-1625, which is the approximate range of birth dates I've seen.  Many of these were in Kent, England, but in many different parishes.  Perhaps one of these is our George but at this point I'm not picking a favorite.  Whoever he was and wherever he came from, he must have had some education in a practical trade or trades, because he was the owner of several different businesses in Concord, Massachusetts.

Yes, Concord is his home town once he arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Unfortunately, many of the earliest records of Concord have been lost. However, he was listed as a freeman in Concord in 1636. We don't know for sure when George arrived in America. Competing sources say he came with his wife and one daughter in 1635, and that he married here prior to 1640.  Of course, it could be that he came to America with his first wife, she passed away, and he married Mary soon after.  Rev. Peter Bulkeley (an Allen ancestor) brought twelve families with him when he came in 1635, and there is mention of a man by the name of Heywood, who seems to be our George Hayward.  .

So, he was one of the founders of Concord and as such received a house lot in the first division of lands that faced on the Commons.  He received additional land later, but I'm not finding specific mention of how much and when.  He built the first saw mill and the first corn mill in Concord, both of which would have been badly needed as Concord was then about 20 miles from Boston.  There is also reference to "his iron works", which is intriguing.  Is there nothing the man could not do?

We find his name in several Essex County court documents, but not as a defendant.  Generally he was testifying to some fact or in one case, on behalf of one of his daughters.  He seems to have stayed out of trouble and was respected enough that at one time he was appointed to a committee to help settle a land dispute.

George and Mary had seven children, John, Joseph, Simeon, George, Elizabeth, Sarah and Hannah.  They were all mentioned in his estate.  There doesn't seem to be a will, because George died in an accident.  While he was returning from taking William Frizzell across the river (presumably the Concord River), his canoe capsized and he was drowned.  (One researcher says he was 67 years old when he died, which would put his birth date earlier than most others are showing.)  He is likely buried in the town's "Old Burying Ground" but there is no stone.  Mary lived for another 22 years, dying in 1693.

George's estate was large for the time, valued at just over 500 pounds.  The inventory is hard to read, but I believe it includes books at a value of over three pounds, which would have been significant.  I'd sure like to know what he read, and whether his children attended any kind of school.  If they did, was it just the boys, or were the girls allowed to learn, also?

Concord is a town with a lot of history.  Just over 100 years after George died, the town participated in the battles of April 19, 1775, when the British were routed at the start of the Revolutionary War.  Later, this is the hometown of Louisa May Alcott (a distant Allen cousin), Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Thoreau.  There are a lot of good reasons to visit Concord, and walking in the footprints of George Hayward would be one of those reasons

The line of descent is

George Hayward-Mary
Joseph Hayward-Elizabeth Treadway
Lydia Hayward-John Hanchett
Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard
Libbeus Stanard-Eunice Pomeroy
Libbeus Stannard-Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

Holbrook line: Walter Haynes 1583-1665, Immigrant

How do I condense the life of this immigrant ancestor into a few paragraphs and still tell a little of his story?  We are fortunate to know so much about Walter Haynes, as he was a linen-weaver by occupation.  We would probably have been considered a tradesman, rather than a farmer but most likely raised at least some crops for his family.  Not everyone is so fortunate as to have this much information about a tradesman ancestor, so I'm not complaining.

Walter Haynes was born in 1583 in Sutton, Mandeville, Wiltshire, England.  It's a small village not far from the south central coast of England,  There is a 13th century church there, with the tower built in the 15th century.  Walter's parents, probably John and Alice Lambert Haynes, would have been very familiar with this church and likely Walter was, too.  We don't know when or if Walter became a Puritan because despite considerable information about him, I don't find mention of a church allegiance.

He and his wife Elizabeth left England on April 24, 1638 on board the "Confidence" and arrived in New England in June of that year. Boston and the surrounding small towns would have been new then, and anxious for skilled men such as linen-weavers to arrive and help build the colony.  When Walter arrived, it was with five of their six children, and three servants.  Walter was already 55 years old so it was likely that servants were necessary to do some of the hard work of building a home and a town.

Walter first lived in Watertown, probably while the plans were being completed for the founding of the town known as Sudbury.  He was granted land there in December of 1639, and the first houses or lean tos were constructed then.  Let's hope that he had a house constructed!  The first church was organized in 1640, and it seems likely that Walter was a member if only because he was made a  freeman in 1641 and was frequently a selectman, and also a representative to the General Court.  .  We are also told that Walter Haynes's first house was made into a garrison during King Philip's War (1675-1677), after Walter and his wife had both died.  This indicates that the house he constructed, or had constructed, was substantial.

Elizabeth tied in 1659 and Walter wrote his will at about that same time.  He lived for six more years, dying February 14, 1665.  At his death, he left property in England to the daughter who had stayed in England, and his inventory amounted to 495.18.10, which would not seem insubstantial for a linen weaver.  I'm proud to call him an ancestor.

The line of descent is:

Walter Haynes-Elizabeth
Suffrance Haynes-Nathaniel Treadway
Elizabeth Treadway-Joseph Hayward
Lydia Hayward-John Hanchett
Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard
Libbeus Stannard-Eunice Pomeroy
Libbeus Stannard-Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis E Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants